Page 81 of Auctioned for Her Blood
“I needed to be sure that he did not flee the city.”
Diederik crosses his arms over his chest and he shakes his head. “My team knows how to do their fucking jobs.”
“If that is the case, then why wasIarrested?” I say, but immediately want to take my words back. There is no use in antagonizing this man, and bringing up the arrest might remind him his team also captured a female—if he knows.
“I don’t know why you were arrested.” Diederik’s eyes narrow. “Maybe because you can’t keep your fucking nose out of my business!” His head tips. “You just reminded me. My team picked uptwoother vampires with Ryker.”
Fuck.
He takes a step back from me. ”One of them was you.” He chuckles. “Clearly. But the other was female.” He steps toward Octavia.
I grab his arm. “Do not bother her with this.”
Diederik stares at my hand on his arm, and I release him. “It would be a waste of time,” I tell him. “I have seen this female vampire, and she is of no consequence—one of Ryker’s lovers in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Calling Ember a vampire is an outright falsehood, and I hope the lie does not show on my face. A negative side effect of learning to control my anger and lust—and my more wicked urges—is that I became less adept at masking deceit.
“Why remind the CEO of your blunder?” I whisper to Diederik, and I glance at Octavia to make sure she’s still distracted by her lovers and not listening.
“Good point.” Diederik nods. “Not like we could release the prisoner anyway, now she’s been down here.”
A tremor goes through me at that thought. For this place to stay secret—even from me who is head of Compliance—Octavia must not ever release someone once they’re down here. But she must make some exceptions.
I glance over at Ryker. His skin is still red, blistered in places, but it is no longer blackened, and his features have become fully recognizable. Sunlight was used as a torture method for vampires in the past, but until today I believed that it had not been used for centuries, never mind by my own syndicate. Barbaric. So is this entire dungeon.
Octavia’s mates part to allow her to pass, and they follow protectively behind her as she approaches Ryker.
“Can you stand?” she asks him.
Instead of answering, he rises, and although I can tell he’s trying to hide it, his eyes reveal the pain caused by his motion.
“Get dressed,” she says. “We will continue our discussion in my office.”
“Are you letting Ryker go?” I ask, incredulous, but again wishing I had kept my mouth shut. My fear for Ember is making me reckless, shaking my usual calm and good judgment.
“That remains to be seen,” Octavia answers. “Come. Both of you.” She glares at me. “I would very much like to understand why you believed this vampire was the key to your research.”
My heart rate accelerates. I should be glad to be leaving this dungeon but that will leave Ember unprotected.
Octavia and her mates walk out the door. Diederik and most of his team follow behind, two of them waiting for Ryker and me to exit.
What am I going to do about Ember?
As we leave the room, I turn and look down the hall. Ember’s crouched, but rises as she sees us.
Ryker turns back to see what I am looking at, and then he grabs my lower arm, shooting me a look of dire warning. And as much as it repulses me to follow his lead, I know that he’s right.
As much danger as Ember faces down here, Octavia cannot know about Ember. And clearly Ryker already knows or suspects more than I want him to.
I wish there was a way to offer Ember comfort right now, to let her know that my leaving is my best chance to help her, and that I will rescue her from this place, even if it means giving up my own life.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ember
Joy overpowersmy terror when I see Ryker exit the room along with Zuben.
Ryker spots me and I want to call out, but the look he gives me says not to. Zuben glances back too, and his look also screams that I shouldn’t move, but it’s all I can do to hold myself back.
